Thick and Creamy Venezuelan Eggnog Recipe

This is the best Venezuelan ponche crema recipe ever, mainly because it’s as thick and creamy as it gets. The best part, you won’t need to add either cornstarch. Neither ready-to-make flan powder. This Venezuelan eggnog is made of egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and our delicious aged rum!

Why This Venezuelan Eggnog Is Different

This recipe makes the thickest, creamiest homemade eggnog you could ever dream of. Saying a ponche crema (literally a cream punch) is creamier isn’t redundant, because some are creamy and some, well, not so much.

No point denying it: this recipe is a before and after. This eggnog without flan mix is inspired by the classic ponche crema by Eliodoro González P., Venezuela’s signature holiday drink.

A cousin of leche de burra, made with clear miche or cocuy (both Venezuelan spirits, the latter distilled from agave), this eggnog makes a perfect gift when you pour it into a glass bottle and add a bow and a card.. A bottle of thick homemade eggnog that tastes like Christmas is a gift anyone will appreciate.

Ingredients

To make this Venezuelan eggnog, you’ll need:

• Egg yolks
• Sweetened condensed milk
• Evaporated milk
• Cinnamon stick
• Aged Ron de Venezuela
• Vanilla extract

You’ll find the exact amounts in the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Make Thick Venezuelan Eggnog

1. Whip the yolks. With an electric mixer, whip the yolks until pale and thick, like homemade mayonnaise. The texture depends on this.
2. Add the milks. Add the sweetened condensed milk and whip until smooth. Then add the evaporated milk.
3. Cook over gentle heat. Transfer the mixture to a pot with the cinnamon and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and without letting it boil, until little bubbles form around the edge and it starts to steam.
4. Add the rum and bottle. Off the heat, add the rum and vanilla, and pour the eggnog into a sterilized bottle.

Pro Tip: If the egg curdles, strain or blend the mixture and problem solved.

12 Tips for a Thick Venezuelan Eggnog

If you’re making this delicious homemade eggnog, keep the following in mind:

1. You’ll need an electric mixer, ideally a stand mixer: for the yolks to reach the creamy texture you want, you have to whip them for at least 10 to 12 minutes.
2. Once the yolks have the right texture, add the sweetened condensed milk to this egg base and keep whipping until smooth, one to two minutes.
3. Next, add the evaporated milk and whip a little more.
4. This egg and milk mixture is cooked with a cinnamon stick over medium-low heat, ideally in a heavy-bottomed stainless steel pot. This is my favorite way to make our ponche crema from scratch.
5. Once it’s on the stove, stir constantly with a wooden spoon. And I mean constantly: if you leave the pot unattended, it may stick to the bottom or the egg may cook too fast and curdle.
6. Don’t let the mixture boil, or the egg will curdle. You’ll know it’s ready when little bubbles start forming around the edge of the pot and it starts to steam.
7. If the egg curdles, don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world: you can always strain the mixture or even blend it, and problem solved. Plus, those little lumps tend to disappear when you add the rum.
8. Add the rum and vanilla once the mixture is off the heat. Otherwise, the alcohol in both would evaporate during cooking.
9. There’s no need to wait for the eggnog to cool to room temperature before adding the rum.
10. I make my ponche crema with aged gold rum with the Ron de Venezuela Controlled Designation of Origin, but you can use any rum you like, including white rum.
11. The amount of liquor is one cup of gold rum for every 6 egg yolks, can of sweetened condensed milk, and can of evaporated milk, but you can adjust it to taste.
12. This recipe makes one liter (about one quart), but readers in Venezuela tell me theirs doesn’t quite get there, which makes me think egg size plays a role. If your eggs are small, use 7 yolks and keep the rest of the ingredients the same.

How to Serve Venezuelan Eggnog

Along with hallacas, ensalada de gallina, and pan de jamón, ponche crema is everywhere during a Venezuelan Christmas.

It’s the drink we Venezuelans enjoy while making hallacas, decorating the Christmas tree, and setting up the nacimiento, the nativity scene that recreates the town where Jesus of Nazareth was born.

This delicious holiday drink can be served cold or over crushed ice. I like mine with plenty of ice, which is exactly why it has to be really thick.

Variations

• Although I prefer my eggnog with the original recipe, you can add freshly grated nutmeg and whole cloves when cooking the egg and milk mixture.
• You can also add a strip of lime peel while it cooks.
• You can serve it with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon.
• And if you want to switch things up, try my pumpkin spice ponche crema.

FAQs

Homemade Eggnog to Give or Sell

Stored in sterilized glass bottles, this eggnog keeps up to a month in the fridge. If you’re starting a ponche crema business or making it for holiday gifts, keep in mind you’ll need the right glass bottles and room in your fridge to keep it until delivery.

I hope you can make your eggnog thick and creamy with this, my “secret” for thickening ponche crema. And if you’re going to sell it, I wish you lots of success, measured in sales.

Other Venezuelan Christmas Recipes

• Caracas-style pork hallacas
• Caracas-style beef hallacas
• Vegetarian hallacas
• Venezuelan chicken salad
• Pan de jamón